Abortion statistics for England and Wales: 2019

This report sets out and comments on abortion statistics in England and Wales for 2019.

The statistics are obtained from the abortion notification forms returned to the chief medical officers of England and Wales.

1. 1 June 2021

   Updated 'Abortion statistics 2019: freedom of information and other data releases' to include 2 new requests: 1) Legal abortions: by parity (number of previous pregnancies resulting in live or still birth), residents of England and Wales, 2019. Updated to reflect suppression practice; 2) Legal abortions: numbers for women with 3 and over previous pregnancies resulting in live or still birth, by local authority, residents of England and Wales, 2016 to 2019.

2. 1 April 2021

   Updated 'Freedom of information and other data releases' to include 2 new requests: 1) Legal abortions: abortions performed under ground E, by gestation, residents of Northern Ireland, 2019; 2) Legal abortions: residents of Northern Ireland taking place in England and Wales, 1970 to 2019.

3. 3 February 2021

   Updated 'Freedom of information and other data releases' to include one new request: Legal abortions: by parity (number of previous pregnancies resulting in a live or stillbirth), residents of England and Wales, 2019.

4. 1 January 2021

   Updated 'Freedom of information and other data releases' to include 2 new requests: 1) Legal abortions: by parity (number of previous pregnancies resulting in live or still birth), residents of England and Wales, 2019; 2) Legal abortions: by age group and parity (number of previous pregnancies resulting in live or still birth), residents of England, 2019.

5. 1 December 2020

   Updated 'Abortion statistics 2019: freedom of information and other data releases' to include one new request: Legal abortions: complications by gestation, 2019.

6. 31 October 2020

   Updated 'Abortion statistics 2019: freedom of information and other data releases' to include 2 new requests: 1) FOI-1254314: abortion service providers: numbers by local authority and region, 2019; 2) FOI-1258478: in the year 2019, what are the top 5 reasons cited, under Ground C abortions where mental and not physical health is cited?

7. 1 October 2020

   Updated 'Abortion statistics 2019: freedom of information and other data releases' to include one new request: Legal abortions: rates by age and local authority, Suffolk, residents, 2019.

8. 4 September 2020

   Updated 'Abortion statistics 2019: data tables' to include data from Public Health Scotland.

9. 2 September 2020

   Updated 'Abortion statistics 2019: freedom of information and other data releases' to include 1 new request: 1) a) Legal abortions: under 25 years old, previous live or still birth by local authority, England, 2019, b) Legal abortions: NHS funded, under 10 weeks gestation, by local authority, England, 2019.

10. 11 August 2020

    Updated 'Freedom of information and other data releases' to include 4 new requests: 1. Legal abortions: rates by region and IMD, residents of Wales, 2019 and Abortion rate per 1,000 women, by age and IMD decile, Wales, 2019. 2. 4 tables: a) BPAS Table 11a: Legal abortions: purchaser, gestation weeks and Sexual Health Indicator by Clinical Commissioning Group (England) and Locality Office (Wales) of residence, 2019; b) BPAS Table 11b: Legal abortions: method of abortion and repeat abortions, all ages, under 25, and 25 and over by Clinical Commissioning Group (England) and Locality Office (Wales) of residence, 2019; c) BPAS Table 11c: Legal abortions: purchaser, gestation weeks and Sexual Health Indicator by Local Authority, England, 2019; d) BPAS Table 11d: Legal abortions: method of abortion and repeat abortions, all ages, aged under 25, and aged 25 and over by Local Authority, England, residents, 2019. 3. Legal abortions: percentages, under 25 years of age, 1 or more previous live or stillbirths, by Local Authority, England, residents, 2019. 4. Legal abortions: women with a recorded residential postcode the same as that of a prison, by (i) statutory grounds, (ii) gestation weeks, (iii) procedure, (iv) parity, (v) previous miscarriages, (vi) previous abortions, residents of England and Wales, 2017 to 2019.

11. 22 July 2020

    Added new document: 'Abortion statistics 2019: clinic data tables'.

12. 6 July 2020

    Added new document 'Freedom of information and other data releases'. This includes 2 requests: 1) Charts: abortions by gestation (weeks), England and Wales, 2009 to 2019 and abortion by method, England and Wales, 2009 to 2019, and 2) Legal abortions: total mentions of cleft lip and cleft palate for abortions performed under ground E, residents and non-residents, 2019.

13. 11 June 2020

    Replaced the attachment 'Abortion statistics 2019: data tables' with a corrected version.

14. 11 June 2020

    First published.